


Aero

by Danie_Noona



Category: GOT7
Genre: I Love GOT7, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2020-07-15
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:02:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 14,720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25246564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Danie_Noona/pseuds/Danie_Noona
Summary: In a future of political, economic and moral collapse, a genetically enhanced superhuman prototype named Seven escapes from military confines and dwells amidst the decadent underground street life of *Seoul* to avoid government agents who want to bring her back into the fold.
Relationships: GOT7 Ensemble/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 1





	1. The Escape

**Author's Note:**

> This is an old story of mine, initially meant for Bangtan Sonyeondan but my inner Ahgase has been screaming the past few months. Hence I am changing characters quite a lot and the plot as well. 
> 
> I hope you all like it.

The year was 2017

A full moon rises over a white swathed spread of meadow freshly dusted with snow, almost seems like powder is touching the landscape. In the distance, a dark wall of pine rises into the crisp, blue-black night with stars shining ever so bright. The landscape is serene, tranquil, quiet, needing only an airborne reindeer to elevate it to a Christmas card status of some sort. Suddenly a middle age woman around 33 years of age who looks as if she was only 18 or 19 years old, races into the dark quiet night.

Running for all she's worth, her dark and shiny hair was whipping across her face. Skin so pale, smooth and velvety, lips as red as blood. As she wears only a hospital gown, no shoes. Her bare feet blast through the snow, as Seven powers across the open meadow. A spot light moves across the ground like death ray, searching left and right among the trees. 

On a snow covered meadow as the xenon beam sweeps the trees nearby. It passes on and the sound of the chopper fades. Out of the tree line bursts the running figure, seemingly like a blur in the night. She hears the sound of her own breathing, deep and regular, like a horse. She runs like a machine, no stumbling, and no wasted motion. Her breath trails behind her in the frigid mountain air. 

Seven reaches the tree line just as the xenon spot sweeps over again. It slashes bright light though the branches, then moves away. She looks up, taking deep, controlled breaths, then runs. A pack of snow mobiles are slashing through the trees just like wolves chasing its prey, their engines whining, ridden by black-clad soldiers wearing night vision goggles and rifles ready to aim, shoot and kill. 

Seven runs through a thicket of trees into a clearing, behind logs and tree trunks, were two other patients. Park Jinyoung and Kim Yugyeom. Both of a much younger age. Jinyoung was 15 and Yugyeom was 14. The boys, unlike Seven were in vitro babies from Aero Corporation. 

They were the original test tube babies. Even with their young age they were well built, with amazing height, flawless skin to the touch. As the two other younger companions join in, the three heard the security chief Thomas White, 25 years old as he speaks into the walkie.

"This is White. I want you to capture if you can. But if any of them make it to the perimeter, you are to terminate. Is that understood?" he says, while breathing heavily through the cold air.

(Voice on the radio) "Confirming Sir. You're giving an order to terminate? Ten-oh-six?" though it sounded more of like a question than a confirmation. 

White responds "I'll take responsibility. If they reach the outer fence. Shoot to kill." White jumps into the Humvee as it pulls up next to him. They roar off into the woods.

Seven, Yugyeom and Jinyoung sprint through the trees. They reach a chain-link fence topped with barbed wire. Yugyeom climbs a nearby tree, runs along a limb. He leaps out into space, plants his hands on the top row of the wire and does a gymnast vault over it, into a perfect dismount in the snow, leaving not much of a foot print behind. Seven follows. 

On an angle through night vision scope, the thermal signatures of the Seven and Yugyeom were seen at the fence looking like luminous ghost in the green landscape. A trooper was scoping both Seven and Yugyeom, moving his finger to the trigger of his rifle. 

Jinyoung runs with a speed of light as he tackles the trooper from the side with a silent thud. The soldier hits the ground and struggles to raise his weapon. Jinyoung knocks the weapon, wheeling out of his hands with a sweeping roundhouse kick, then swings a hunk of broken branch like a Louisville Slugger. 

The trooper drops and stays down. Meanwhile at the fence as seven and Yugyeom lands in a snow drift on the far side, they spin around in a crouch as headlights hit them. For a split second Seven pupils flash with a green glow like a cat's eyes. 

Through the chain link fence she sees black figures surround Jinyoung, silhouetted by the headlights of arriving snowmobiles. The soldiers corners the man and fires Tasers at Jinyoung as Seven and Yugyeom watches in horror. 

Yugyeom grabs Seven and yanks her away. They sprint across a clearing over a frozen pond toward the sheltering woods beyond. The xenon search light rakes the trees near them. 

Seven and Yugyeom hear snow mobiles converging. Seven, trailing Yugyeom by a few feet, drops suddenly as the ice beneath her gives away. Yugyeom goes back to pull her out, but as she pulls herself up out of the hole, the edge breaks away and Seven falls back. Yugyeom looks up at the sound of snowmobiles, and the xenon spotlight raking through the woods towards them.

"Yugyeom. Go! Gooooo!" Seven says. Yugyeom in dismay and in tears tries to reach out for Seven. 

"NO! Seven, we stick together! I am not leaving you here. Jinyoung's orders were to make sure you were safe."

With the nearing sound of the snowmobiles Seven looks up at Yugyeom with tears in her eyes "Go. Please Yugyeom. I'll find you and Jinyoung. I promise. Be safe." With that Yugyeom runs, as Seven takes a big gulp of air and disappears under the water.

"Noona...." Yugyeom cries, she's gone he realizes. Yugyeom looks up to see the soldiers running toward the fence. Some of them kneel, raising their rifles. He sprints for the woods, the xenon spotlight finds him, and snow explodes around him as the bullets whiz by. He makes the tree line as bark is blasted off the trees next to him. Yugyeom runs into the black woods. Humvees smash through the fence, followed by snowmobiles and running men.

One of the Humvees stop next to the pond, White jumps out. He is met by a Lieutenant. "We've got one captured, two killed. And my men are taking a helluva beating. Two more left." He says to White. 

"Just get them, Lieutenant. It's your ass if one of them makes it to the outside." White responds while sipping on a cup of hot coffee. The Lieutenant speaks up "Realistically, Sir, its ten degrees out here. How far can they go? No shoes, hospital clothes. Nothing to equip them from this cold brutal weather. They would die if they stay out. They won't last the night." 

"Just find them." White gritted his teeth then lights a cigarette, holding it in one bare hand. The hand which flicks the lighter is sheathed in a tight black leather glove. He gets into the Humvee, throws his coffee off the side of the vehicle and goes. What they don't realize is from where White was standing, the thin ice, back lit by the eerie, blue-green glow of the sun gun refracted through the water was Seven. 

Under water, her face pressed against the ice looking upward, very much alive. 

Wide-eyed with fear.


	2. Past and Present

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "The escape was not my idea. I mean escape to what? They didn't know if there was anything outside the walls of the Corporation. I have forgotten what my life was like outside the Corporation. I don't even know who I am anymore. Sometimes it seemed like it happened to someone else. Like maybe it was a story I heard. The hardest part is not knowing if any of them made it. If I knew for sure that I was the only one left, it would be worse. At least now I can make up lives for them. Like maybe Yugyeom is an underground dancer...or an architect. Jinyoung could probably be a actor or a singer for some idol group. The truth is they'd be just like me, living on the run, always looking over your shoulder." - Seven

The year was 2027

Seven, despite the years that have gone by, has remained unchanged. Her aging has stopped abruptly, she still looks like a girl that's fresh out of puberty. Her brown eyes are piercing and cold, her dark hair alive with the wind framing her beautiful face, lost in a train of thought that has haunted her for many, many years.

As Seven is seated a top one of the highest towers in Korea, with glimmering lights of Seoul on the background, no harness, no way of getting up or down without diving into a certain death especially if the wind blew the wrong way. She just sat there with tears falling from her eyes, still thinking about her horrible past, staring into the night.

"Hope is for losers. It's a con job people trip behind until they finally get a grip on the cold hard truth. But still I hope they're out there. Somewhere...and that they're okay." 

Seven's trail of thought was finally cut off, she stands from the tower and jumps off, falling flat on her feet, landing on the cold hard ground at least 30 stories up, with a grace of a beautiful feline. Seven stands up and dusts her hands off. Rides on her motor bike unto the busy streets of Seoul to her home, to get some sleep.

As the night passes by Seven reaches her shared rundown apartment, she attempts to sleep as she arcs her back like a cat stretching to get a good use of space. 

Seven's eyes were shut tight, flinching from the inner concussion of her dream. Grainy, black and white images seen. 

A line of men and women, heads shaven, saluting. Feet marching in unison. There is only a roaring, rushing sound, and a kind of word babble of distorted, amplified commands, PA Speakers, megaphones. 

Seven disoriented, wakes, hugs herself as she trembles with the images playing through her head. Her being on a plane, the plane crashing in a middle of nowhere, smoke filling the air as she struggles to breathe, blood lots of blood, men in white gowns rushing and ushering her limp body, a helicopter, then all she sees are white walls, lights, medicines, surgical masks then she realizes that she in a laboratory. 

Injected with serums of medicines unknown, being studied, surveyed, like a lab rat. A human Guinea pig. Along with other kids and plane crash survivors. 

Yugyeom and Jinyoung with her in a cell. They were placed in a treadmill, wired and taped up with every kind of sensing device and electrode, with a tube tapped in their mouths, running with intense concentration.

Day by day the number of plane crash survivors slowly go fading, the familiar faces that Seven has grown accustomed to seeing have lessen, their numbers quickly decreasing from hundreds reduced to half, then down to 10.

Then it was just Seven, Jinyoung and Yugyeom. The other in vitro babies seemingly losing the life in their eyes, questioning every second of their existence. Not knowing where the others went or whether they're still alive. Images kept floating in Seven's head as she continues to have intense tremors. 

In her dream, Seven is once again tied up in a chair, her pupil scanned on a laser, electrodes being attached to her scalp. And a needle rising against a surgical light. She feels cuts made on her body, she recalls the feeling of needles as stitches made on her skin, seamed together like a rag doll, abstract figures in medical masks, and no faces. 

Her dream jumps off to an instructor standing against a large screen, flashing words: DUTY, DISCIPLINE, TEAMWORK. 

As Seven struggles, she attempts to gather her strength, stands and holds on, she slams her bathroom mirror, staring at her own reflection, then glances down her hand, which is still shaking with tremor. She clenches it into a fist and then bends to splash cold water on her face as she uncaps some pills and pops two in her mouth. She waits till the shaking stops and everything normalizes. She heads out of her bathroom and hears a very familiar voice. 

"This sucks" says the girl's voice. 

She turned around replied with a smile "What sucks?" 

Seven walks straight in her shared apartment's living space to see her flat mate and best friend, Park Choon-Hee, 25 years old, fashionista, foodie, who happens to be wearing some nicely ironed blue scrubs, brushing her teeth, with a dreaded hang over attempting to get ready for work. 

Choon-hee is a respiratory therapist working at a nearby run down hospital in the city, tending to most of the unfortunates of Seoul. Seven considers Choon-hee as family, since they live together and bicker a lot. She's a well-rounded person, with a bright personality, loves to drink, loves to eat, turns bright red like a tomato whenever she's shy, or so the act goes but truthfully speaking Choon hee, loves Korean men...and women. 

Seven tilts her head, smirking at her friend for partying a little too much on a work night, as she observes her surroundings. The apartment that they call "home" is an unfinished building, a luxury high-rise in the making until the day of construction simply stopped. The walls are taped, drywall, spray-painted with colorful undulating graffiti by somebody's old boyfriend. 

This is where Seven and Choon-Hee have been crashing for at least the last several months, dominating the room are Seven's bikes, an ugly but fast messenger bike and a much faster rice-burner motorcycle with a race faring. On top of Seven's motorbike lays Choon-hee's underwear as she patiently waits for them to dry. Annoyed by the sight, she starts plucking her roommates panties off her baby. 

Choon-Hee pouts as she starts picking her underwear from the floor and sits on the chair near the bar like counter table then looks at Seven "This, all this sucks. I come home, it's 3:00 am, and you're still out. I feel like I got hit by a cement truck and you've been up for an hour bouncing around. That by definition sucks."

Seven grabs a cup out of their empty drawers, pours a hot cup of brewed coffee and hands it to Choon-hee with a smirk on her face. "I made you coffee...That should help you cope up with the injustice of the world a little." 

Choon-hee thankfully grabs the cup from Seven, inhales the scent of caffeine, and slowly takes a sip. She looks up at her roommate 

"Thanks. It's starting to kick-in" whilst taking another sip of her coffee "I feel almost human." 

As Choon-hee heads off to her room, Seven replies "Yeah, me too." She studies herself in the mirror, with an enigmatic expression "Almost."

Evolution and technology was the key for everything in this brave new world, as they would call it. The world has turned into a very toxic and corrupt place. It wasn't the same as it used to be; as Seven re-calls past memories. 

Seven wheels out her messenger bike out of the apartment, which has no door, only a piece of plywood which she slides across the opening. She has a big glazed donut clinging in her mouth, which she eats throughout as she approaches their next door neighbor. 

The corridor is lit by sunlight leaking in from the outside. No utilities. No rent. No problem. As she makes her way along the corridor she hears music and somewhere a TV blares the news. 

"Knock, knock" as she gently taps the plywood. Seven continues to go in the unit and smiles upon inside seeing her friend Namjoon, with his wife Han Byeol and their little boy Jungkook. 

Han Byeol was busy putting books into a knap sack for Jungkook as the little boy is dawdling with his breakfast. Namjoon sits on the edge of the bed, hunched and pale.

"Hi Guys" as she greets Han Byeol and Kookie, then turns to Namjoon "Let's roll, hotshot." 

Kim Namjoon looks longingly at his bicycle, leaning against the wall. He coughs, Han Byeol flashes a worried look at Seven. "Gotta take a personal day Sev. Whatever it is I got, I'm biting it bad." as he hugs himself and shivers. Seven tries to ignore the fact that Namjoon is sick to avoid giving him a pitiful look. She smirks at him in response "Well, it's payday today. Do you need me to pick up your check?" 

Han Byeol looks at Seven pleadingly and smiles. "You're the best Sev". 

Seven heads out the apartment and winks at Jungkook who winks back.


	3. Welcome to JYPE Xpress

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "My life?...if you can call it that. Has been challenging as fuck. Sometimes I wonder what I was like before the escape. Before Aero. Everything is just a blur. As much as I want to remember. They've been swiped clean. Oh well, life fucks us so hard nobody dies a virgin." - Seven

As Seven pumps her bike through the streets of Seoul bustling with activity. A normal day in the city two decades from now. 

Things have changed by the year 2020, but in subtle ways. The skyline is the same, not transformed by gleaming megastructures. There are no Jetson flying vehicles glittering among the high-rises. It is a city frozen in time, stopped dead in the tracks of progress. But it is far from a deserted place, on the contrary, the streets are more alive than ever.

Seven bunny hops a curb, side skids around a tight corner and barrels down a split lane between bunches of sluggishly moving cars, mostly older models from around the turn of the century, the last time people could afford to buy anything. Seven breaks to a stop at a sand-bagged checkpoint. 

She flashes the plastic ID clipped to her vest to a young soldier, along with a too-big smile "Jype Messenger" she says. 

He smiles back and waves her through, checking her out as she goes "Have a good one" says the soldier as she drives away.

Seven goes back to their head office JYPE Xpress. As she enters the facility, an overhead fluorescent flickers. She enters the nerve center of JYPE Xpress, Seoul's oldest messenger service, founded sometime in the early years of the 21st century. 

The crew of messengers, mostly in their 20's of various personalities, includes Jackson Wang, Mark Tuan, Choi Youngjae et al. 

They munch on junk food, drink sodas and half-watch an ancient TV hung from the ceiling while they wait for assignments. 

As Jackson full-dressed, rises up to plead his case to a very pissed bossed JYP. Jin "Old" known by many approaches JYP and says "Nobody was there to sign for it man. What's a brotha s'posed to do? Ride around all day with the package?" Youngjae nods in approval laughing his ass off and responded "I'd probably do the same boss, give my boy a break."

JYP clearly pissed as day, turning all red and huffs responded "So you just decided to return it to the sender. Or, in this case, the sender's wife?" Mark being the air of wisdom among the crew came to the younger man's aid. "Like the prophets say...Only the unrighteous husband sends expensive gift-wrapped panties to another woman."

JYP heads behind the shipping counter which is cluttered with packing slips, mailing tubes, etc. The exhausted boss, tired of it all responded whilst banging his fist on the table "Which is none of your business...or mine." 

Jackson high fives his friends, smirks and says "It only concerns God. But in this case, I was the instrument of the Most High."

The unfazed boss responded "Well around here, I'm the Most High. From now on, before you do anything, call in for instructions." 

With all the racket Seven smirked at the boys and gave Jackson, Youngjae and Mark a high five. She enters the lounge ignoring the sign which clearly reads: YOUR BIKE IS TO RIDE, DO NOT BRING INSIDE. 

JYP's reaction as to seeing Seven suggests this is a habit of hers and he has already given up trying to break her off. He shoves a package at Jackson, Youngjae and Mark to get rid of the rowdy boys. "This is a hot run, beat it" then he turns to Seven with a disdain look on his face "You're late again Missy."

Seven turns around to see JYP up her ass, she looks at her boss. JYP was definitely not a looker, the fact that he nags and has loud mouth and uptight personality makes it worst. 

"I was on call" she responded in her most monotonous voice. 

JYP turned red in anger "I want you on call here!" dog-tired of his employees attitudes. Her boss sends her off with a last hot run for the day. Seven took the package since it was set to go to one of those high-rise buildings of the rich and famous. Before heading off she stopped by one of her home girls Summer. Dressed in leather, stiletto nails, ghetto fabulous, slams her locker shut, pissed off. Seven regards her a beat with the most catlike grin knowing that something was up "Good morning, Sunshine" as she laughs.

"Caught some son-of-a-bitch stealing my bike. Used a car jack to blow out my U-lock and bent a bunch of spikes. So now I gotta get my wheels fixed." Whilst trying to fix the ridges of her bike. Seven took the wheels off Summer's hands and fixed the ridges for her "Well, look on the bright side, at least he didn't swing with your ride."

"No, but I broke a nail giving him a cranium crack, and that just sort of wrecks your day, know what I'm saying?" She looks over at Jackson, as a girl approaches him, the girl hands Jackson a box of chocolates and cookies, looking all flustered and red. 

Jackson gives the girl a quick peck on the cheek, says thank you and quickly walks off then approaches Youngjae and Mark with a box of goodies given by one of his admirers. "Now why can't I find a bf like that? I can bring him cookies, he buys me lunch every day, legs, muscle, abs from here to there." 

Seven laughs at her friend. Summer pouts and tilts her head, the boys approaches them both. Seven and Summer exchange a knowing look then giggles. 

"Whats going on ladies?" says Youngjae who was flirtatiously flipping his hair showing his beautiful forehead and his most dashing smile. As the normal chatter began amongst friends you all turned to the old TV hanging on the wall. The regular programming turns to snow, replaced after a moment by the pixilated image of the pirate cyber journalist known to the masses as the Informant Net. As someone cranks up the volume, pan around the faces in the room who listen in rapt attention.

"Do not attempt to adjust your set. This is a video of Free Korea Bulletin. The cable hack will last exactly sixty seconds. It cannot be traced. It cannot be stopped, and it is the only free voice left in this city..." 

Youngjae turns at Seven with a confused look on his face that makes him look like a lost child "Is this guy even for real?" as the TV still continues with its cyber hack. 

"Who knows" Seven shrugged being obvious that she was not paying attention to the cyber hack. Jackson jumps in "He ever been wrong about anything?" 

Seven looks at the TV screen once more with disdain on her face not trusting anything she sees "If you ask me, he's on the same hustle as everyone else." 

Mark engrossed with the cyber hack shushes Seven. "Doesn't mean he's not telling the truth" Jackson adds in, obviously believing the Informant Net. Youngjae nodding the same, agreeing with both Jackson and Mark. 

Mark being all hot and bothered responded "Just hope God's looking out for his ass, cause he's messing with the brimstone, brotha."

Seven nodded in response to Mark's words of wisdom. He is right she thought. Whoever this guy is and whatever his deal is. He best better be careful. As Seven was about to bid goodbye to Summer she almost choked holding out a laugh, she nudges her friend and gave her an eye to signal her to stop staring and drooling at Jackson. She turned crimson red with this and smiled. But being the unpredictable Seven couldn't help but tease Summer.

"Alright, this fixation you have with Jackson is tiring the shit out of me. I got you covered with your wheels. So we good? I've gotta run before Jyp screams bloody murder on me again." She pushes her bike out of JYPE Xpress, as Summer sighs and shouts "See you later at the Crash bitch". 

Seven turns her head and nods quickly driving off laughing as she sees Summer flipping her with her middle finger.


	4. Meeting the Informant Net

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Guess you weren't expecting the Pizza delivery guy." - Seven

After Seven's last run of deliveries, she surveys the place, and in a nearby window her pupils dilated to zoom in to the other building just right across. 

She sees several admirable statues and displays that she can probably fence for a large amount of money. Seven goes to an alley way, climbs up the side of the building, reaching the top. She takes off her black glasses. A distant car's headlight sweeps her and Seven's pupil glow for a split second with a green retinal reflection, much like of a cat. As Seven looks up into the night shadows of an alley between high rises. Wearing a skin tight black pants, rubber soled high-tops, black leather jacket, and black gloves. She is a silhouette in the darkness. 

She hefts a black nylon bag over her shoulder. Once on top she disables the roof security camera with a piece of black tape over its lenses, she crosses to the edge overlooking the alley. The street is twenty two stories down. Her target is a narrow roof formed by a setback in the facade of the next building, one hundred feet below her and eight feet away horizontally.

Holding on tight on her gear bag as it is unzipped. Seven's gloved hand yank out a large bundle of black nylon rope. She hinged the lock as a carabiner is snapped around a steel pipe. She stepped on to the parapet, jumps at a down angle, as she plummets down the face of the building. She adds arm pressure to the belay around her waist, then inverts with a snap, dropping feet first, the rope making shush sounds across her leather jacket. Seven now builds later speed across the face of the glass high-rise. She reaches the bottom of the arc, the rope stretching, taking the shock, and her lateral speed wipes the world into a blur.

Seven arcs upward, starting to slow. As she flashes above the parapet of the target rooftop, she then releases the belay, and lets the rope slide through her arm, dropping onto the rooftop with a soft thump, feet-first, crouching like a tiger or a panther light on its feet. She then turns onto the skylight , as she jimmies the latch and lifts the cover, she ties a rope on a steel pole, dropping herself ever so gracefully into the spacious apartment.

Nodding in approval looking at the luxurious space of the apartment and its architectural design, she goes to work, padding gently to the apartment. She opens drawers, looks inside cabinets, picking up object examining them. Seven enters another room silently, hefts a small porcelain figurine, 17th century Venetian. She slips it into her bag, a pair of small gold dolphins follow. She then hears something, and investigates further, peeps in a room with a man talking. Stokes on a computer keyboard. The walls are bathed in a blur CRT glow as Seven slips the door open a few inches and looks in to the room.

A man still sitting at a bank of computer monitors, half a dozen screens, racks of computer gear and peripherals of all descriptions. The room is dark except for the glow of the screens and power lights winking from the equipment. Haphazard heaps of papers, photos, files and printouts are piled everywhere on very expensive antique tables and couches. The man, Im Jaebeom, is speaking directly into the video camera.

"Do not attempt to adjust your set. This is a video of Free Korea Bulletin. The cable hack will last exactly sixty seconds. It cannot be traced. It cannot be stopped, and it is the only free voice left in this city..." 

Seven slowly walks out of the room and continues rummaging the belongings of the cyber hacker. She couldn't see Jaebeom's face directly because his back is turned, but she can see him in one of the monitors. Early 20's with intense, almost haggard, yet strikingly handsome features. His brown piercing eyes blaze with intelligence and he projects a fierce energy as he speaks. Seven registers surprise as she realizes who the guy is. The pirate cyber journalist known as Informant Net in the flesh.

Jaebeom scrolls back through the video he has just digitalized and hits a key command which processes the image through a masking filter. Pixilation blurs the contours of his face, leaving only the intense eyes clear. He watches it to check that the effect is complete.

Seven smirked as she knew she was right, he was just on the same deal as everyone else. Power hungry, living and hiding under his expensive apartment. He seemingly is a part of the richer parts of the City. Seven slowly backs out the door and stops as she sees something. On a table just inside the room, is a statue, an Egypt-deco affair of gold and onyx depicting a creature half-female, half cat. It's illuminated from above a single pin point of light. Seven stares at it utterly transfixed, she snags it and backs out of the room. As she stuffs the statue on her bag and heads back out.

Then a security guard, Ruben, found the rope. He flicks his Maglite up to the open skylight and his eyes go wide. He un-holsters his 9mm, scanning and listening around him. He crosses to the alarm panel near the door and punches in the silent alarm code. As Seven approaches, the guard is scanning the shadows his gun sweeping the room as he moves forward and Seven is moving down the hall toward him on a collision course from the other side. She senses something on a level that no ordinary man or woman could feel, a sound, a vibration, the guard's body heat perhaps. As he approaches the corner and pops around the wall corridor, it was empty.

Seven slips through the door quietly but suddenly stops, lit only by a night light, a woman lying on bed with a young girl about 7 years of age, having just tucked her into bed. The woman Janna Reid and her younger sister Juliette. Janna looks up locking eyes with Seven as she screams in fear "In here! Help, in here!"

Jaebeom hears the cries and shoves aside a pile of papers and grabs a pump shotgun as he chambers around. Ruben breaks into a run heading for Janna and Juliette's room, as Janna grabs a lamp and hurls it with all her strength at Seven.

Seven's body reacts, the lamp tumbles end over end, in slow motion, she moves with amazing speed seemingly blurring the world. The guard flings the door open, sweeping his gun towards Seven. 

As she sees everything in slow motion, except for Seven who is moving in a rather much faster pace; she easily ducks the lamp, which is just shattered against the wall as the guard takes aim with a two handed grip. The room goes dark as the light bulb explodes. Seven moves sideways before the guard can pull the trigger.

The room strobes with the shot but the bullet goes where Seven was, not where she is now which is halfway to the guard moving like a freight train. A second shot was heard, the bullet carves the air next to her. She reaches the guy and gets a hand on the gun, yanking it down and around in a sweeping roundhouse which twists it out of his hand. The guard Ruben was 6'3" and 250 pounds, mostly muscle. Seven follows through with a foot sweep take down and drops onto the guy hard with his arm twisted behind his back. She unloads the pistol sliding out the magazine and jacking out the chambered round. She throws the gun away and mag the other. The guard struggles to move but Seven drops onto him knee first again, knocking the wind out for a while. She looks up at the terrified woman and the crying little girl.

"Sorry" she whispers to the ladies as she bolts out the door, she sprints down the hall. Suddenly, Jaebeom appears in front of her with a shotgun leveled at her. It has a built in mini-xenon light and it is blinding her night vision, making it hard to see exactly where he is aiming at. She is at a momentary disadvantage. Though Seven knows with a sweep of her finger she can probably cause the poor man to be thrown by the wall since her abilities have improved vastly for over the years. She however was amused by the man's predicament and decides to play along.

"Put it down" says Jaebeom. 

Seven does as what she's told and drops the bag on the floor. Jaebeom calls to Janna, eyes riveted on on the perpetrator. 

"Janna, are you okay?" he asks. 

Janna not going out of the room, creaks the door open and answers "We're alright Jaebeom." 

Jaebeom scans the room to look for the beaten security guard. "Ruben" he shouts.

Seven smirks at Jaebeom, knowing that he may be looking for the poor man lying on the floor. "If he's the side of beef with the walkie-talkie, he's okay, but give the man a few minutes. He's a little bit knocked out for a while." 

Jaebeom sees the statue peeking out of the open bag amazed and relieved. "You're a thief?"

"Girl's gotta make a living." As she responds with a Cheshire grin on her face. The frazzled and confused Jaebeom responds "Thank God. I was expecting someone else."

"First time I heard that. Guess you weren't expecting the pizza delivery guy." Seven responds sarcastically. She turns around as she heard a creak on a door as she's Janna hanging back in the bedroom attempting to pacify the crying child. "I'm sorry if I caught you at a bad time." She responds to both Jaebeom and Janna.

"It's alright were just a little tense right now." Jaebeom withdraws a bit but keeping a wary eye on the beautiful thief. He notices the status hanging on Seven's bag. "You have good taste. French, 1920's attributed to Chitarus." He says.

"Yeah. Whoever that is." As Seven responds nonchalantly. 

Jaebeom tilts his head and quirks an eyebrow at the woman standing in front of him "So what? You liked it because it was shiny?" 

Seven taking a note on the sarcasm floating out of the man's mouth. She seemingly wiser beyond years stares at the man blankly and responds in the most monotonous voice to contrast the man's sarcasm. "No, because it's the Egyptian Goddess Bast. The Goddess who comprehends all Goddesses, Eye of Ra, protector, avenger and destroyer. Giver of life, who lives forever. I can keep going you know..."

Jaebeom just looks at her, fascinated. Then, Ruben emerges from the bedroom, holding his ribs as he fumbles out his handcuffs and heads for Seven. Jaebeom panics "Stay back Ruben. The guards are on their way."

"Too late." Seven moves like lightning, grabbing Ruben's wrist as he reaches for her. Yanking him off balance and getting him in a sharply painful come-along hold with one hand bent up behind his back. Seven has maneuvered him between her and the shotgun, trumping Jaebeom's hold over her. She gave him a smile "Look, I'd love to discuss art but I gotta jet." She marches Ruben backwards into the living room controlling the big bodyguard with the thumb-hold and keeping him between her and Jaebeom.

"Easy, easy. My wrist is gonna snap" Ruben pleads in pain as he attempts to calm the girl. Seven responds to him "Yep. That could happen" then she turns to Jaebeom and grins "By the way....I love your show."

At that moment there is a thundering crash at the front door. Seven's head snaps around as a squad of private security cops wearing ballistic armor haul back and pound the door again with a steel battering ram. The doors were blasted open and a group of heavily armed rent-a-cops spill inside, their flashlights sweeping the apartment. As they raise their weapons towards Seven, she salutes the men. Moving like grease lightning as she bolts away from Ruben, who finds himself suddenly handcuffed to a heavy wrought-iron table. As the security squad moved, they submerged to try and stop her. She runs like a black blur. Jaebeom yells for them to stop with his words distended "Noooo! Don't!!! Waaaiiiittt!!!"

Seven crosses her arms over her face and hits the window at a full run. The glass explodes outwards in a diamond shower. She disappears into the night, like she was never there. The cops didn't even get a shot off. As Im Jaebeom runs to the window to check on the poor woman to see if she is still alive, he looks down. He catches a glimpse of her leaping from balcony to balcony, down the face of the building ninety feet below. She vanishes into the shadows at a street level. Jaebeom watching in fascinated awe as the curtains blow around him in the night wind.


	5. Squatters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "What's with you? Every week this scumbag puts out the squeeze on us and every week you roll out the welcome wagon like he's family." Seven just shrugs and smirks at Choon Hee. "Just thought maybe he'd like a little coffee with saliva?" - Seven

Flashbacks

Dream like, stroboscopic images of military regimentation. As before, drained color. 

Seven, Jinyoung and Yugyeom in long lens stack. One of your group, a girl with blonde hair, pitches forward onto the floor wracked by a seizure. Seven and the boys only reacting with their eyes, not breaking ranks as the convulsing blonde girl is dragged away by uniformed orderlies. Flashing moments through your old barracks, Seven in rows of steel bunks. All beds are filled except one. She was lying in the night shadows, stares at the empty bed. Seven looks down at her own hand with a look of fear, watching her hand shake as she stuff it under the sheet.

Seven walks down the hall in grey boxers and t-shirt. The corridor is dark but light spills through a door ahead. She approaches slowly, hearing tech sounds and a low murmured dialogue. The high-pitched sound of a medical saw. In a pool of halogen light, the blonde girl lies naked on a stainless steel table surrounded by doctors and med-techs. She doesn't see exactly what they were doing, but she hears the bone saw and realizes that it's an autopsy. Seven's left standing in horror. It is clear that they have killed her and are dissecting her like a frog. Standing silhouetted between Seven and the pool of light is a man in a suit, not in medical greens. 

He turns and picks up a cup of coffee off a steel cart with one black gloved hand...White. 

Seven backs away, as she is yanked by Jinyoung and Yugyeom with the same fearful expression. Yugyeom rubs her shoulders full of concern in his eyes for what may happen to the three of them. Jinyoung leads Seven and Yugyeom back in their barracks slowly as he tucked her in bed. He looks at her lovingly as he kisses her forehead and heads back to his own bunk just on her left side. Yugyeom does the same, plants a kiss on her forehead and returns to his bunk bed to her right, reaching out for Seven's hand attempting to ease her worries away.

Seven attempts to snap out of her flashbacks, hands yanking off a bottle cap, slapping pills into her mouth. She slams her back into the bathroom corner, hugging herself as she slides to the floor, wracked in spasms. Her body shakes with muscle tremors as she clenches into a ball, eyes shut in her own world of pain and memory. Wishing that the two men whom she cared for dearly were with her at this moment. Opening her eyes. The morning light is painful to her as she gets unsteadily to her feet. She leans over the sink and pours water over her head from a plastic jug. 

Seven heads out into the living room. As she emerges she stopped in her tracks by the sight of her motorcycle, the handle bars of which are draped with Choon hee's collection of thong panties hung there to dry. After a beat, she crosses to her bike and removes the confections as she speaks "Choon. This is a motorcycle. Again, its sole reason for its being is to go fast. Very fast. It was not put on this earth for you to use as a clothes line. I love you make no mistake, but I love my motorcycle more. DON'T-TOUCH-THE-BIKE, Okay?"

As Seven tosses the handful of panties at Choon's sleepy form huddled under a blanket across the room, the form shifts, then sits up revealing Jung Hoseok. One arm wrapped around Choon-Hee who's snuggled next to him, still asleep. "What time is it?" Hoseok stirs slowly waking from all the noise Seven was making. He blinks the sleep from his eyes, then, after a beat recognizing Seven. 

"What are you doing here?" he asked confused as shit.

"I live here. Guess I don't have to ask what you're doing here" as Seven stares into the messy bed that laid over her with Choon slowly stirring wake. "You're roommates?" asks Hoseok.

Choon hee wakes up annoyed at the racket both Seven and Hoseok were making. "Some of us are trying to sleep." 

Hoseok slowly gets up and starts running his hands through his hair nervously. He looks at Choon "You didn't tell me you lived with her." As he whispers to Choon hee. Seven quirking an eyebrow up obviously hearing the faint statement Hoseok gave Choon.

Choon hee stands up in her night gown, stared at her best friend confused "You guys know each other?" 

Seven nods and replies "He's a mistake I made about six months ago before you did. But don't feel bad. Kim made the same mistake, along with Jada, Valerie, Tia and Brooke." Choon-hee recoils from Hoseok "Eww"

Hoseok immediately stirs to hold Choon hee, pleading her to not listen to Seven. "Nothing happened between me and Tia babe." Choon hee hits Hoseok with her thong laying on bed "Leave. Now!" 

He collects his things in protest "Can I say something in my defense?" In unison Seven and Choon hee responded with a resounding "NO."

As an aerial police drone hovers just outside the window, Seven and Choon-hee dives for the floor, and pulls the poor man down as well. 

"What is it?" he immediately follows the girl as they squat to the ground. "Police drone" as Seven takes a peek on their window waiting for the drone to leave. Seven watches the drone float, past the window, its TV camera sweeping the interior. Finally, it sails off but before anyone can register relief, they hear a squawk of a police loudspeaker outside the hallway. Seven grabs Choon-hee "It's a sweep". Seven and Choon-hee haul Hoseok to his feet, he grabs a hat or a magazine to cover his nakedness as they propel him toward the window. "Guys, come on. Let me put some clothes on." He pleaded the girls. 

Choon-hee replies back in a serious note "No time babe. Move it." 

Then with that Seven opens the window. Hoseok has a shocked expression on his face not believing the girls are trying to get him through their window in all his nakedness "Where?" he still asks in disbelief. 

"Out there." As Seven points out. "Unless you wanna end up in jail, let me and Choon handle the cops. Go!"

As the girls bundle him out onto the ledge "Guys, Come on. I'm afraid of –" the poor man trails but Choon-hee responded "Don't look down!" 

Choon-hee slams the window shut and closes the blinds. The two girls crack up. "What a creep" says Choon-hee.

But the hilarity is short-lived when they hear the football out in the hallway of a police platoon sweeping the building. "All unauthorized individuals vacate the premises or face immediate arrest." Declared the platoon officer.

Suddenly, the makeshift door is kicked in and two cops in full riot gear enters. The first cop enters as he lifts the visor of his helmet, revealing the face of a pale faced handsome Lieutenant Lee Jungshin, with him is a much more dashing man whose face is as white as snow Min Yoongi. Yoongi rolls his eyes at his superior then smirks at both Seven and Choon-Hee, then he salutes the two leaving them with Jungshin. 

"Ladies" then Seven and Choon-hee suddenly relaxes. "Morning Boys. What's the good word?" Choon-hee the opposite of her best friend Seven begins to roll her eyes, seething in anger and hate for the police officer standing in front of them.

"Just doing my part to keep the homeless problem from getting out of hand." Says Jungshin, who was now alone by himself as Yoongi leaves the building, smirking at Choon-hee eating up the sight of her in just her night gown. With this Choon-hee grabs a robe and covers herself up with her cheeks turning red. 

"Coffee?" Seven goes to the counter to grab a cup. 

"You read my mind" Jungshin responds not looking away from Choon-hee, as Seven pours him a cup and hands it from his back, Jungshin then turned to Seven "You haven't seen anyone trespassing around here have you?"

"Gosh. No." Seven responds as she throws Choon-hee a look, who retrieves an envelope and hands it over to the cop with obvious irritation. The cop takes out the cash, counts it, then reaches for his walkie-talkie.

"Fifth floor is vacant and secure" while Jungshin pockets the money he turns to Choon-hee and winks "Have a nice day" he goes. Choon-hee turns to her best friend with an annoyed expression on her face. "What's with you? Every week this scumbag puts out the squeeze on us and every week you roll out the welcome wagon like he's family." Seven just shrugs and smirks at her best friend. "Just thought maybe he'd like a little coffee with saliva?" Choon-hee shocked with the revelation that her best friend shared with her. "You didn't..." she says.

"Every week." Then Seven makes a hawking sound, the two girls crack up.

After the very eventful morning the girls had, Choon heads off to work, Seven wheels her bike down the corridor headed for work as well, Han Byeol cracks the door open and peers out.

"It's cool." she says to Han Byeol as she opens the door. Seven fishes in her jacket "Before I forget, Namjoon's paycheck. I got in late last night and I didn't want to bother you." She hands the check to Han Byeol, who manages a smile which only momentarily conceals the concern evident in her face.

"Thanks" says Han Byeol. 

"How's he feeling?" as she surveys her face. Han Byeol gave out a loud sigh "Took him to the hospital again, they gave him some medicine but he says it's not helping." 

Seven gave out a comforting smile hoping to lighten her a bit. "You know how it is. You or I get sick, life goes on. A guy gets the sniffles and the world's coming to an end." Han Byeol nods, wanting to believe it's nothing serious then they hear Namjoon calling out for his friend.

"That you Sev?" Namjoon calls out. She enters the room to see Namjoon who's lying on a mat, too weak to prop himself up. His breathing is labored. Attempting to conceal her growing concern for her friend Seven speaks up "Playing hooky at work again?" as he smiles weakly at her, while attempting to play with his son Jungkook.

Namjoon looks up at Seven "Feel like the dog's dinner. I know what I got, Sev. They put me back on that drug they're giving the other vets. Only the guy that does those cable hack says the stuff's no good." 

Seven sees that the fear in his eyes is real. She immediately gets up "Don't believe everything you hear on TV." Concealing her concern, thinking that this is also a way for her friend not to panic. 

"What if he's on the level?" as Namjoon coughs.

She sighs remembering her last encounter with the Informant Net. "Here's the deal with the Informant Net. He's probably some wack rich dude sitting around in a trick ass apartment, bored stupid, So he gets off on scaring the poop outta folks like you and me. Listen I gotta go." Seven starts gathering her bag. Namjoon reaches out for Seven's hand "Tell everybody I said hey." 

She held Namjoon's hand "You can tell them yourself tomorrow."

She turns to go. As she passes Han Byeol she smiles at her "Like I said, guys are the weaker sex."


	6. The Search

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "If I'd just gotten my ass kicked by a size three. I might be inclined to mind my own business." - Im Jaebeom

At his computer console, Jaebeom fast-forwards through a video surveillance tape from the previous day, freezing on Seven as she approaches the adjacent building with a delivery. He blows up the image until Seven's face fills the screen, her eyes looking right into the surveillance camera, right at him. He studies the picture for a long contemplative moment.

Ruben enters the room and looks over his boss and studies the photo his boss seems to be engrossed at "Glad you're getting your money's worth outta that tape. Had to grease the guard a hundred for it." 

But with this Jaebeom doesn't hear him. He's utterly lost in the image of the young woman on the screen. Ruben teases him "You trying to ID the perp or a new girlfriend?"

Jaebeom snaps out of it and responds "If I'd just gotten my ass kicked by a size three. I might be inclined to mind my own business." 

With this Jaebeom gets up from his seat, grabs his wallet and a 9mm out of his drawer. Heads straight out of his apartment to his SUV and drives off for the day.

Jaebeom arrives at JYPE X-press, he enters and looks around at the motley assortment of messengers, then crosses to the dispatch counter where JYP barks out an order to his not so merry men. "Pick-up at four-eleven going to Gangnam" He tosses out the package to Mark who catches the parcel with ease accompanied by the boys Youngjae and Jackson with deliveries on each of her hands. 

Jaebeom approaches the boss "I'm looking for a lady who works here" 

Not giving the young man the time of day Jyp arranges the packages for the next deliveries and responds "Ladies would be elsewhere." 

With this Jaebeom flashes the picture of Seven which was lifted from the surveillance video. He slides it up to the stubby man "Know where I can find her?" 

The man scans and surveys the photo and smirks at Jaebeom. 

"You don't want to. Listen brother, she may be easy on the eyes but she's trouble trust me." Then Jyp leaves the station with packages on his arm and calls out for his messengers "Hot run two-oh-two Sansome" the old man kept passing on the packages to his workers with Jaebeom trailing behind him not giving him the peace he needed for work. 

"I need to talk to her" says Jaebeom. He feels the patience leaving his body as the old man continues to ignore him. Jaebeom then has had enough, he pulls out an envelope with large sums of money and extends it to him. 

"How about you give me her name and address?" 

Jyp eyes the money and pockets it. "Seven something. I got no clue where she stays. But she normally hangs out after work with a bunch of these losers at a place called The Crash." 

Jaebeom tilts his head and purses his lips. He salutes the man and leaves the building. Putting the coordinates of the place on his GPS. The GPS advises him that it's ready to go, he drives off the night headed to look for the beautiful thief.

As Jaebeom enters the bar, he sees Seven and a friend playing a game of eight ball. He purposely observed her from afar at first. She was wearing nothing but simple black sleeveless shirt, black pants, black gloves and black rubber boots. She had no make-up on yet her skin is tanned and flawless. Her eyes were intense and brown as she concentrates on beating her friend at a game. Black hair flowing beautifully from her back as it sways showing markings on her skin. Tattoos as he scans her carefully. She has a tattoo of an angel on her back with cherry blossom edging on both her left and right shoulder. From a front another tattoo catches his attention on her upper left chest just right below her collar bone. Some sort of an ECG reading. 

She seems to be having fun tonight...

As Jaebeom surveys her. There's something about the way she smiles. Her body is relaxed but her eyes are weary, as if she was hiding a secret from everyone else. Jaebeom decides to approach Seven while she was speaking to her friend. Whilst walking towards her Seven looks up and sees him approaching. 

"So this guy walks into a bar and says..." as Seven intensely gazing upon Jaebeom's eyes without blinking, he swore when a flash of light from the bar swept by her it looked as if he was staring in to a cat's eye. 

He smiled at her and responded "We didn't get a chance to finish our conversation the other night." Without taking her off Jaebeom, he felt compelled to stare into her eyes as well. 

Seven unmoving speaks at her friend who seems confused "Summer, say hi to my good friend..." the man cuts her off "Im Jaebeom" he says as he hands his hand to shake the hand of Seven's friend. 

Summer being an ever loyal friend just looked at Jaebeom and gave him a brief respond "Hey." 

But Seven and Jaebeom just stood there still looking at each other. Sensing that it's time to make herself scarce, Summer looks at her watch "Xena's on", then she splits.

"Sorry about your window" as Seven breaks her gaze upon the handsome man. Jaebeom does the same "Can we go somewhere and talk?" the two then heads out of the bar. 

The two walk in silence for a moment, an easy affinity between them. After a moment Seven slightly gave Jaebeom a glance "So...How'd you find me?" 

Jaebeom stared at her features ever so softly there was something about her that's enchanting him to no end. Obnoxiously he gave her a smile "It wasn't that hard." 

She stops dead at her tracks, eyeing the man who was standing before her "Am I supposed to be flattered by all the attention?" As she snickers at him and walks a bit faster making Jaebeom speed up his pace. 

"Well, now you know who I am, where I live. I figured I better find out who I'm dealing with in case you were looking to hurt me." He answers her earnestly. 

They continued conversing whilst walking through a forgotten and condemned park. Surrounding them are old rusted rides all long forgotten. Seven sits on one of the old swings as Jaebeom followed the urge to push her slightly. She then turns to her side only seeing the Jaebeom's peripherals. 

"So? Now you tracked me. What do you think?" as she continues to just sit by the swing. 

Jaebeom moves to her side sitting on the empty space on her right. He looks at her "Hmmm...Too early to tell." 

Seven giggles at him, catching the man by surprise. It's hard to think that this girl sitting beside him giggling over nothing actually took down Ruben and broke his window. 

She then continues on "How does Mrs. Informant Net like being married to a guy on everyone's hit list?" she asks with a very innocent but serious look on her face. Flustered by her straightforward question he blushes, then she laughs at him obviously catching the man off guard. 

"Aww, he blushes, how adorable. For someone who does cyber hacking I must say this is a surprise." As she continues to laugh on her own. 

"Janna is not my wife." He replies to her. 

"Girlfriend?" she quirks up an eyebrow on him. 

"No. Janna Reid is the wife of James Reid. Her husband was murdered. She's one of my sources." As he intently looks at Seven's face to see if he can catch any type of emotion. To his dismay she never changed facade and stood up from where she was sitting as she continued to walk around the park. 

"Tell me Im Jaebeom, what's your shot in all this? Being a famous underground pirate slash cyber journalist can't be much of a pay day." 

He follows her as she walks around "Fortunately, my needs are met in that department" he says. 

"So what, you just like the sound of your own voice?" Seven mocks him.

Jaebeom smiled in amusement. "Look around at all this Seven. This place was built by people till the pandemic and bomb happened on 2020. They blinked and overnight the government, the police, everything intended to protect the people had been turned against them."

Seven stops and turns at Jaebeom "You miss the good old days. Even though there were still poor people who died from diseases when they didn't have to...and rich people spent obscene amounts of money redecorating their houses to match the cat. Those good old days?"

Jaebeom sighs "Well at least people had a choice, even if they took it for granted. And now they obviously don't." 

Nonchalantly the girl continues to walk "So what are you gonna do about it?"

"Something..." As Jaebeom answers, they continued to walk in silence for a beat. 

Then to break the silence Jaebeom decides to speak up again. "That was a pretty extraordinary display of athleticism the other night. In fact, a little too extra ordinary. You wanna tell me how?" But he looks up at her and she's gone. 

Jaebeom was left all alone on an empty park, looking for Seven who seems to have vanished in to thin air. 


	7. Girlfriend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I'm working very hard to respect my elders here but don't push your luck." - Seven

Seven pulls into JYPE Xpress like any normal day. The other messengers are watching the volley as Youngjae rides up, out of breath, a worried look on his face, hops to the curb and skids to stop next to her. 

"Hey Youngjae" she greets her fellow messenger. 

With a very serious face "Sev, We need to talk." As he follows her inside the facility. 

"Whats up?" She spins and does a no-look return with her bike. The other messenger makes the save, registering surprise at Seven's dexterity. Youngjae snags the bag in mid-air with one hand. 

"It's kinda important." The pair continued to walk and talk as he lays out what the deal was. Youngjae laying everything out for Seven's scorned ear, she finds out that Youngjae has been seeing his ex on the side without Kim's knowledge. 

The said ex happens to be a JYPE X-press client who was obsessed with Youngjae and wants him all for herself, she clung to him like a bee to a honey, threatening the poor man that she would go and tell Kim all about their past. 

Seven pissed off at her friend turns around and mocks him, knowing that Youngjae can be a big flirt at times, without thinking about certain repercussions. However knowing Youngjae he would never intentionally cheat on someone as great as Kim. 

She was pissed for Kim being that she's been at the end of the shorter rope when it comes to the love department. "You blew off your gf last night even though it's the big anniversary. I'd be pissed off too if I was her."

"Not half as pissed as she's gonna be when she finds out why I blew her off. I really need your help Sev." As he trails around her like a lost puppy. 

"Youngjae, I don't see how you cheating on Kim involves me."

As the poor man attempts to plea for his case he scrambles following Seven all over the place. "I know what you're thinking, I'm lame, self-serving, arrogant and guilty as charged Seven. Look, I made a terrible mistake. One I'll never ever make again. Kim and I are soulmates. I know that now. She's the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with. I guess it took the thought of losing her for me to understand that."

Seven has had enough, "Fine does this ex have a name?" as she looks at her friend. The man nearly in tears looks at Seven 

"Bianca."

Seven gets up and heads out, passing Jyp who shoves a package at her. 

"Fourteen-thirteen Market. Get a signature, then take it to this address. By the way that guy who was in here sniffing after you yesterday called twice already." Seven just nodded and hands the package to Youngjae as they both head out then shouts at Jyp "Tell him I took the day off cause I wasn't feeling so hot."

Unlocking their bikes getting ready to head off to Kim and Youngjae's apartment she turned to her friend in curiosity. "How did you even convince her to get out of town?" 

He scratched his nape with one arm "Well I told her she needed to visit her mom in Busan so she'd be out till tomorrow. Seriously what did I do to deserve a friend like you Sev?"

"You don't." as you snickered at the man. 

"How are you going to do this?" he asks. 

"I'll make it up as I go. Chill alright? I've got your back." As she drives away whilst Youngjae goes on delivering the package that Jyp ordered Seven to. 

She heads over to Kim and Youngjae's pad, as she took off her jeans and shirt. She grabs a dress hanging from their common cabinet and looks at herself in the mirror. Examining the flower patterns she sighs.

From a distance Seven hears certain vibration nearing the apartment. Bianca mounts the steps and rings the doorbell. 

"Who is it?" She attempts to sound as pleasing as possible after all Kim was every inch girly. She always wore a skirt, she was shy and well-mannered. Seven nears the door to open up to a very sultry woman, wearing a very tight skin hugging rip jeans and a halter top revealing cleavage for the world to see. The blonde looks at Seven in disgust with her floral patterned dress analyzing the girl from head to toe. Seven had her hair pulled back in a bow. "Kim right? I'm a friend of your fiancé."

Seven looks at the blonde and asks her "Yes? What do you want?" 

The blonde enters the apartment without permission and whispers to Seven's ear "To set the record straight about where he was the other night when he said he was working late." Bianca pushes Seven as she enters the modest space with a smirk on her face.

"Who are you?" She answers the blonde. 

She looks down at Seven and giggles "Im Bianca. Youngjae's ex." 

Seven was already getting irritated with all the shenanigans and just wants to get straight to the point. "You said you knew where my fiancé was the other night?" she smiled. 

"With me. Where he's been after work, three, sometimes four nights a week for the last month. We have what you call an intimate relationship. Bet you didn't know your boyfriend finds a little pain exciting. He didn't either at first. I just thought it was important for you to know the facts." As she fiddles with her long manicured nails giving Seven a sly look.

Seven sighed staring that the blonde woman giving her an intense glare. "And so should you. Youngjae told me I could expect a visit from you. I know how you threatened him. That if he didn't break it off with me you'd save him the trouble. Guess what, its over between you and him and it has been over for months. Face the fact. Reality hurts like shit. Leave us alone, were getting married next month and there's nothing you can do to stop that." 

Bianca was pissed beyond comprehension, she exhales loudly "Well you're certainly a fool." 

"Big part of loving someone is being able to accept and forgive them. No matter how dark their past is." As Seven continues to pace along the carpeted floor near the window. 

"Now let me get something straight you prissy little bitch. I decided when I'm through with your boyfriend. Not him, and certainly not you. Unless you want to test how sharp these nails really are?" Bianca aims for Seven's face with a handful of flaming red nails, but Seven catches her hand. 

"I'm working very hard to respect my elders here but don't push your luck." As Seven let's go of Bianca's hand.

Bianca composes herself a bit, then takes a swing at Seven just when she turned around to face the window, Seven easily steps aside, then catches Bianca by the arm. Bianca's expression registers horror as Seven pissed off collars her, then drags her to the window and hangs her upside down by the ankles three stories above the pavement below with one hand. 

"Help. Lemme go. NO! Don't let me go please..." as Bianca pleads for her dear life while hanging upside down from the window praying. 

Seven smirked "Here's how it's gonna be Bianca. You're gonna take your threats and your cheap acrylic nails, and go home. Go figure out your life instead of trying to make other people as miserable as you do. Understand?" Seven lets go with one hand, holding the woman's full weight with her other. 

Bianca screams "Okay...Okay." She responds.

Seven laughs at the frightened woman "Say I understand." 

"I-I U-uunderstand..." says the woman crying as she lets her off gently. Bianca runs out of the apartment. 

Thirty minutes later, Youngjae arrives at the apartment with a triumphant smile on his face. "You rock Seven... YOU. ROCK!" he exclaims. 

She shrugs the man off. "Easssy boi. Chill." 


	8. Lost Boys

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You were gonna run through the law enforcement database for a match on identifying marks."- Seven

Seven hauls ass through the sparse traffic on her rice-burner motorcycle. She slows in the neon glare of a row of ratty store fronts. She turns in at a laundromat, hopping the curb and driving her motorcycle right through the open door. 

Seven purrs the bike to the back of the place, bathed in fluorescent glare which makes her skin cyan and pallid. A heavy set woman of indeterminate age watches her warily, but doesn't break rhythm as she folds clothes. Seven jumps off and kickstands the bike. She walks through a door in the back into a short dingy corridor leads to the lit-up office of a laundromat manager. 

Jason Ardiente, who also runs a private detective business out of the place. She pushes the door open and walks in, catching Ardiente in mid-bite of his chicken sandwich. He looks up at her "I asked you to keep that thing outside" he says as he continues to hack down the piece of chicken meat into his mouth.

"Yeah, does kinda break the elegant atmosphere you got going here" Seven responds while she goes through the stack of papers lying around in Ardiente's desk. 

Ardiente drops his sandwich and wipes his hand off the tissue which was tucked underneath his shirt and swats Seven's hands away from the files she's looking at. "You got a punk-ass mouth on you kid."

Seven raises an eyebrow at Ardiente in response "My name is not kid. It's client. As in the person who pays for your opulent lifestyle. Now you got something for me or not?" 

He goes through some piles of printouts, then pulls one out. Seven is leafing through Ardiente's notes. The notes contain several delinquent offenders but nothing on her friends Jinyoung and Yugyeom. She grows impatient "What's all this crap?" 

Ardiente scratches his nape and responded "A nuclear airburst wipes out every record of every kind in every computer east of the Rockies, while a pandemic is on the loose, and you want me to find some boys, whom you won't even give me a name or anything. They don't exactly have search engines for finding a bunch of whackos with barcodes on their necks, which is something I'm not even gonna ask about." 

Seven immediately looks up and drops the file on Ardiente's table seemingly ready to punch the guys face off 

"You were gonna run through the law enforcement database for a match on identifying marks." 

Ardiente backs away from Seven avoiding any type of collision in fear that she may at any time pounce on him. Defensively he answers "Nothing so far from arrests, hospital admissions or coroners. This kind of seach, its heavy paper work. Im gonna need ---"

"More money? Like I'm shocked to hear you say that" as Seven cuts him off. She reaches in her leather jacket, pulls out an envelope full of cash and flips it over to Ardiente who was too late to catch the envelope thus making the money fall on the ground. 

As Seven leaves the facility Ardiente starts to clean the place up for he is ready to head home.

Ardiente finishes off the glass of wine, clicks off his computer, grabs his briefcase and heads into the deserted laundromat. As he heads for the front door, he taps the washing machine lids shut, one by one as he goes. He hits the lights and heads out the door locking it as he addresses a kid arriving with a basket of laundry that his shop is now closed. Ardiente locks the door and goes.

Meanwhile on a row of oversized industrial dryers, one of them is kicked open. Then, in the darkness a human form, clad all in black, climbs out of his hiding place, then goes to another dryer, opens it and takes out a black bag of gear and heads for Ardiente's office.

As Ardiente arrives at his vehicle the 23 year old man pats himself down looking for his car keys, mutters a curse and then heads back toward the laundromat. As the intruder rifles drawers etc. He hears something, freezes. 

Ardiente unlocks the door, enters and pads toward his office, banging into the now open door of the industrial dryer. "Damn it" he mutters under his breath. He reaches for the light switch but is jumped from behind by the intruder, who takes him out with a couple of quick chops. Ardiente hits the ground hard. The intruder rifles his pockets, empties his wallet, then grabs his bag and gear and splits into the darkness of the alley way. 


	9. Visitor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, the technical term for you is a Chimera." Jaebeom adds. 
> 
> Seven stares blankly into Jaebeom's eyes. "Yep, a made-up creature. Like in mythology, head of a lion, body of a goat and a tail..."

After getting extremely annoyed coming back home empty handed once again in search of Jinyoung ans Yugyeom, Seven enters her shared apartment. 

She calls out for her best friend "Choon, are you home?" 

But to her dismay she realizes that her best friend is working late shifts at the hospital. She pulls off her leather jacket, drops it on the floor. She kicks off one boot, then the other, then peels off her black turtleneck revealing a black lacy bra underneath, she dives onto her futon and sighs. 

Not out of fatigue, more like the weight of the world weighing on her tonight. Reminiscing on her two lost brothers. She lies there beat, then she senses something. Call it vibration, intuition. She sits up suddenly and is very still, like deer in the forest listening for a predator's approach, then she turns and look behind her and sees the Gold Statue on a milk crate bookshelf against the wall. 

Seven gets up, crosses to the statue, picks up the item and look at it a long moment trying to run the math. Then, impetuously she heads out of the room collecting her just doffed clothes as she goes.

She rides her rice-burner without any helmet, flaring through the night to a familiar alley way as she jumps up the tall building. She steps over the ledge and sees the very familiar building across. The apartment that she once attempted to rob. 

The luxurious apartment, subdued lighting. Seven drops down from the familiar skylight landing in a crouch. She sees Jaebeom, standing in the dining room, just lighting a candle at the long table. 

There are two place settings. 

He looks at Seven and blows out the match. "Have you ever noticed how cats always seem to turn up around dinner time?" 

He smirks at Seven as he continues to fix the table with food and drinks for his astute guest. Seven giving Jaebeom an icy glare responds "I won't be staying"

"I'm not a half bad cook" he smiles at his guest. 

The tastefully arrayed table suggests this is an understatement. Wary of her surroundings she paces slowly towards the living room "Like following me around and pestering the people I work with wasn't bad enough, but breaking into my apartment?"

Jaebeom tilts his head to the side, seemingly like a bad habit. "It was open" 

"You got a lotta nerve" she responds in anger. 

"Me? You're the one who tried to rip off this place." Jaebeom continues to put the salad on the table for his guest, not paying much attention to Seven as she glares at him. 

She spat in irritation "Completely different situation. I steal things in order to sell them for money. It's called commerce, but some stranger sneaking into a girl's bedroom is bent."

"Bent?" amused Jaebeom raises his eyebrow with a smirk on his face. 

"Bent. How am I supposed to ever sleep there again knowing some pervert probably touched everything I owned?" as Seven paces left to right in a slow sultry manner, just like a cat would. 

Jaebeom gave out a naughty laugh and smiled "Well if you're that nervous, you're welcome to stay here."

Seven feigns complete revulsion at the thought as Ruben the security guard enters in a rush, drawing his gun menacingly, some ace wrapping on his wrist and a bandage on the bridge of his nose. 

"Woah there boy, we've been through all this." As Seven raises both hands in order for Ruben to see that she is no way going the let the man touch a single hair of hers. 

"It's okay Ruben, we're fine" says Jaebeom as he sits at the chair nearby. Seven raises an eyebrow at Jaebeom "We are not fine" 

Ruben lowers the gun but continues to watch Seven suspiciously. "This is a tactical exposure which I go on record as not liking" says the muscle man. 

"Noted, Ruben do me a favor and look in on Janna and Juliette." Replied the walking hot stick with a mole right below his luscious lips. 

Ruben grudgingly exits and Seven circles the table. She idly kicks the plywood which has been fastened over the window she broke the last time she was there. Jaebeom sighs at his failed plan. "Look, Seven, if I made you feel uncomfortable or creeped out. I am truly sorry. It wasn't my intention, but I had to see you."

Seven doesn't know what came over her, perhaps the heat is coming on as she looks at the man in front of her she feels the sickening grudge pulling her from below. She attempts to stay away to avoid his eyes and his touch. She turns slightly looking at Jaebeom briefly "You'd think a guy who's taken on the job of saving the world would have a few more important things to do than traipse around after some girl."

Following on the lead of flirting which Jaebeom knows all too well, he rides on "I haven't been able to get you out of my mind" he says. 

He reaches out for Seven's hand "Come here. I want to show you something." Putting a hand on each shoulder, he steers her over to an ornate mirror hanging above the sideboard. "Tell me what you see." As Jaebeom point out to the mirror.

"Gold leaf, art nouveau, French, early nineteen hundreds. I could probably fence this for about three or four grand easy." Seven says while observing the piece of art hanging. However Jaebeom points to her reflection in the mirror. "

No, I mean this" as Jaebeom gently places his hand on Seven's chin. "Probably the most singularly beautiful face I've ever seen."

Seven was caught off guard and was embarrassed, face turned red as she looks down "Expensive gifts, surprise late night visits, over the top flattery. You really always come on this strong?" as she questions, looking up at Jaebeom. 

He gently massages Seven's nape, as he brushes his hair from behind "Only when I meet someone I have to know everything about." He continues to lean in giving soft kisses and licks on her ear. 

Seven doesn't resist feeling a tying knot forming below her pelvic line, she heaves and inhales him drunken at the arousal building up. He brushes Seven's hair more revealing a bar code on her neck. 

"And now I think I know pretty much about everything." He abruptly pulls away, leaving Seven standing there hot, bothered and confused by the interruption. 

"Suppose I can help you locate the other ones." Jaebeom says as he moves towards the living room of the apartment. 

Seven follows him with a confused look on her face then realizes the predicament she's in. Turning pale and wary of the man opposite of her. 

She plays dumb "The other ones?" she asks. "You lost me" she continues.

"Come on Seven. first I watch you dive headfirst out the window fifteen stories up like you're Super woman. Then, I found this in your apartment." Jaebeom continues as he pulls a vial of pills out his pocket. 

Seven registers outrage, however this doesn't stop Jaebeom "L-Triptophane. A neurotransmitter sometimes used in homeopathy to control seizures. Then the light bulb went off." He smirks at Seven since he knows he got her good.

"You did go through my stuff" she states in horror. 

As Jaebeom turns and head into his study, Seven follows him, Jaebeom starts typing information on the computer keyboard. 

"I got an anonymous report years ago from a guy who was a lab technician at a covert genetics lab in Daegu Mountains." Jaebeom blabbers on as he continues to pull out a file labelled Project Aero. The same file fills the computer screen. 

"I don't know what you're on about but I'm out coz you're fucking insane" says Seven as she starts to back away. 

However Jaebeom didn't acknowledge her as he continues to speak "He said they were working on something called Project Aero, which was using recombinant DNA to produce a superior human. A warrior, an advance infantry soldier. Apparently these soldiers have special abilities. Super strength, speed, endurance, and who knows what else they might've cooked up in your genes" as he stares at Seven.

She stops at her tracks and turns in anguish "Not that I don't enjoy a good urban legend but what does any of this have to with me?" 

Jaebeom looks up at Seven. "The barcode on your neck Seven. I know who you are and what you're running from." 

The revelation freezes Seven in her tracks, she suddenly bolts but Jaebeom rushes to her, catching her, and looks up her eyes with utmost concern. 

"There were two other transgenic males captured from the initial escape, and in 2020 a few months after the pulse and the pandemic, they managed to escaped again. They were never found. There were only 10 of you left that were successful to this project, Seven. Only 3 out of hundreds genetically enhanced hybrids. The rest died during experimentation and the escape." 

Seven struggles and loses her balance. Her brain goes out of her wits when she hears this. "Jinyoung and Yugyeom?" The emotion is plainly evident in her eyes. 

"You're one of those transgenics. Now you'd be called a hybrid." Jaebeom attempts to steady Seven as she starts to fade and bend over to peer at her eyes. 

"Look at me. Listen, I am not your enemy. You are safe with me. Trust me." As Jaebeom gently massages Seven's arms as she looks straight into his eyes, for some reason unknown reason this man knows a part of her life, he may use her, and he might just be the death of her, but it doesn't matter because for some reason she trusts him. Seven sits on a couch relating the specifics of her history to Jaebeom. 

"We got separated right away. I never knew if they made it." As tears fall from her eyes. 

"How old are you exactly?" Jaebeom curiosity got the best of him. 

Seven gave Jaebeom a small smile "Well I was turning 34 when they took me in way back 2017, whatever they injected seems to make my aging stop, also allowing me to look younger than my normal years." She shrugs off the surprise look on Jaebeom's face. 

"How well do you remember the lab?" He trails on question after question. 

"I remember fine after the lab and the plane crash. We and several other survivors were dragged into the lab. We could've been declared dead by the government, however anything prior to the crash is just a blur. None of us remembers our previous lives prior to being dragged in, when we got to the lab there were prior experiments. Jinyoung and Yugyeom were one of those in vitro babies, they were already living in the facility before we got in, Jinyoung was 15 and Yugyeom was 14. Or atleast they looked around that age. The rest were plane crash survivors. Ages ranging from 9 to atleast 50's. As far as I can recall. We all had a normal lives before all this, though most of our memories have already been erased." She sighs then continues.

"I was the only survivor left in the crash that was successful to the project. My DNA structure was changed after birth as compared to the boys, their DNA has been etched since birth. I just didn't understand what was going on during the time. They held the survivors for months, did experiments, we never questioned anyone. We we're all too scared. They never told us anything except what to do." Seven recalls her memories as tears start to swell

"I was in a cell block with both Jinyoung and Yugyeom. Then slowly as months pass by it was just down to five. There were two other girls with us from the escape but they were in such bad shape before we bolted. I'm not sure if Jondy or Max survived. They were younger than I was at least."

"How much do you know?" as Jaebeom continues to question Seven which she obliges to answer seriously. 

She felt good having to share such valuable information of her life with someone after many years of trying to hide what she is. "I know they made me. Got the branding on my neck to prove it. Whoever I was prior to the accident was no longer existent." She sighs. 

"Yeah, the technical term for you is a Chimera." Jaebeom adds. 

Seven stares blankly into Jaebeom's eyes. "Yep, a made-up creature. Like in mythology, head of a lion, body of a goat and a tail..." 

Jaebeom cuts Seven "Of a girl" he says and gave her a weak smile.

Seven chuckles in Jaebeom attempt to stop her from describing the monster she sees herself to be 

"Your basic freak" Seven adds in. 

Jaebeom stares at her in amusement "Hardly. I meant what I said earlier, you truly are beautiful" 

Seven acknowledges the compliment with a brief glance, then looks out the city lights as her cheeks reddened. Then she speaks "Christmas is a snap when you've been kidnapped from your family, no parents, and no relatives. Just a bunch of gene sequences from probably twenty different people and animals." 

She smirks at Jaebeom. He laughs "Like extra virgin olive oil, the best of the best" he says.

"You know the weird thing is Jinyoung and Yugyeom lived in the lab for years, prior to us being put in together. I guess the Corporation was testing out possible outcomes of having to recombinant DNA on both in vitro babies and after birth. We got the short of the stick. They saw the opportunity and took us from our families. Prior to us being joined in the barracks with these kids. They were so different."

Seven smirks at the thought of her brothers "Both Jinyoung and Yugyeom. They knew nothing but training. Nothing from the outside world. It's like they have no emotions. At all. But I guess that's where Aero messed up. They mixed us over with the kids and ended up confusing them, confirming true emotions. I owe my life to them you know." As Seven blabbers away, tears fall from her eyes. 

Jaebeom leans in and wipes her tears with his thumb. Seven snaps out of it.

Turning from the window to face the young man "You said you could help." 

Jaebeom got up from his seat approached Seven, "I could search for your friends, since considering the predicament you're in. They're the only family you have at this point in time. I can ask for my informant to gather information about the old lab you were held in and see what side effects their studies may have for you and your brothers. Maybe we can also find out more about your family and get you back." Jaebeom holds Seven's hand and rubs his thumb across it, she stares at the young man 

"I prefer not to look for them, my real family I mean. While I have the Corporation following my ass, I don't want to endanger them. But I would love to see and be with my brothers again." Seven stops for a brief second and turns to Jaebeom again 

"What's in it for you?" 

He stands up and looks out the window "Your help." 

Seven stands up abruptly "I already don't like the sound of this."

Jaebeom acknowledges the threat and danger that he is asking of the girl but he has no choice in order to survive his current situation and he needs Seven. 

"The woman you met. Janna, she supervised workers removing cortodiazapine from gel caps by hand and replacing it with powdered sugar. The real drug was being shipped out of the country to be sold to the highest bidder at the black market. The placebos were distributed to County VA Hospital and six veterans' clinics in the area. Janna Reid is prepared to testify that was instructed to this by one of Sonrisa's men. You know who Edgar Sonrisa is..?"

Seven turns to look at Jaebeom "Yeah, I caught one of your hacks. He's Satan's spawn or something." 

Jaebeom attempts to reach out for her hand "So you know the lengths he'll go to keep Janna from going public. I'm turning Janna over for a witness protection but if you're with her the risk of her safety goes way down." 

Seven avoids Jaebeom's gaze afraid for what may happen. "I didn't make it this far by attracting a lot of attention Jaebeom. I am still on the run. They want me bad, I have people on my ass either wanting to put me back in a lab to do weird experiments on me or worse have me killed." 

Jaebeom sees the fear in her eyes. A flash of the scared innocent by stander once shown. Wondering who Seven was prior to all this mess she's in as of the present. 

"They've lost track of me and I intend to keep it that way." Seven stands up ready to leave as Jaebeom attempts to stop her 

"You're a soldier Seven. That's what you were put here for. But soldiers need a mission otherwise they tear themselves up." He says in desperation. 

Seven huffs at Jaebeom "That's deep. But before you lecture me about the meaning of life, maybe think about my family who's been missing me, thinking that I had died along that place crash years ago. Think about how I came to be, how this special abilities were made, you want a lesson in life? Maybe you oughta start getting one'" Seven leaps up and grabs the combing of the skylight. She pikes sharply, like a gymnast and pulls herself up though the opening, and just like that she's gone.


End file.
